Killian

[Emergency quest initiated: Stand up for yourself!]

'Stand up for myself?' Alex thought.

'Isn't the objective to avoid going on a rampage on my first day at school?' He immediately questioned his system, looking for guidance.

He was pissed at Killian, but he also feared himself and what he may do if a fight broke out…

[If you don't let the anger out, you'll explode with rage eventually.]

[When that happens, will you control it?]

[I doubt it.]

[...]

[Get him, Alex!]

'But… he's Killian Copperland! His dad basically owns the school…' Excuses continued to flood his mind as he tried to think of a way to avoid the conflict.

[Get him!]

'If that's what it will take to keep my dino side in check…'

'I'll trust you.' He sighed in the hopes that this wouldn't come back to bite him.

The defeated child put his hand in front of Trent as he motioned for him to step back. Puffing up his chest and drawing a deep breath, he started with a classic!

"Yo! Killian! My mom might be dead, but at least she's not fat!" He took a shot at any middle schooler's weak spot.

"Oh shit!" The students surrounding the three boys lost all sense of decorum and exploded into a string of profanities. They shouted to encourage their friends to join the festivities!

"Fight!" The pre-teen battle cry echoed through the school grounds, drawing a crowd.

The jeers and murmurs that reached his ears filled him with confidence. With so many witnesses, the fight was bound to be broken up before anything bad actually happened!

"Is that why you're so thin? You can't afford any food because mommy keeps eating it all?" He didn't give a chance for a counter, immediately throwing another insult at the young Killian, who was disrupted by the verbal stun.

If he was getting suspended, he might as well have fun with it!

The circle of students was getting larger and larger, which emboldened him, yet embarrassed his silver-haired opponent.

"Really? You know my mom drove me here in a Porsche, right?" Killian sneered at his adversary, "You're the poor kid with the dead parents!" Not forgetting to remind the onlookers of his family's wealth, the bully dropped a brand name and shocking news in an attempt to win over the crowd.

The scene was silent for an instant, and nobody knew how to react to this new information.

"Yeah, my parents are dead! You've covered that!" Alex stepped forward, allowing his momentum to carry him. "Your moms so fat even that Porsche has stretch marks!"

"Ooh!"

The students were brought back to reality as they joined the energy of the pre-teen brawl before them.

"Get 'em, Killian!"

Differing opinions were being overheard. It felt like the young were-rex had lost allies as he noticed Killian's friends shoving people to get to the front of the crowd.

"You got this, Alex!"

The group of rambunctious pre-teens was itching for someone to throw a punch.

"Shut up about my mom, or I'm going to kick your ass!" Killian, getting annoyed at the constant berating of his mother, started to ball his hands into fists and took one step backward, squaring up toward the confident child.

"Kick the left cheek; I got a cramp in the right one from bangin' your mom!" Standing tall, he turned away, laughing as he raised his hand to high-five Trent.

He had never felt so cool; nobody stood up to the Copperlands like that!

As soon as he noticed an opportunity, Killian began sprinting toward the unsuspecting Alex. He wasn't satisfied with arguing anymore and punched him with all his strength, knocking his opponent back a few steps. A tinge of blood dripped from the hero's nose, surprising him.

Alex took a step back as he raised his fists.

[Emergency quest completed!]

[Not my personal style.]

[But you did stand against the bully.]

'I can't actually fight him! I've never punched anyone!' Despair flooded his mind.

[Then close your eyes and swing.]

[Do something!]

Taking the advice of his system, he blindly swung his fists toward his enemy with all of his might. Killian responded by attempting to dodge the attack, but because of the lack of aim, he failed to guess the target.

"Ooohh," The crowd roared as Alex's fist landed on the boy's face, causing him to be knocked flat on his back.

Killian lay in the grass; his eye started to swell immediately as it turned a deep purple.

"Break it up, break it up!" The chubby, balding principal Mr. Weber came trotting out of nowhere as soon as the punch had landed.

"Oh, that's funny!" Alex bent over in exaggerated laughter at the sight of the principal; his blood dripped to the concrete below.

"A child abuser is trying to prevent kids from hitting kids. Sweet!" He seemed stuck in "badass" mode and wouldn't stop.

The surrounding kids stood in silence at his remark.

"Mr. Jackson, that's enough! Get to my office now!" Mr. Weber grabbed the boy's wrist and dragged him toward the principal's office.

Out of nowhere, a faint feminine voice could be heard, causing the crowd to chuckle once again.

"Screw you, Mr. Weber! You touched my butt!" The students cleared a wide circle around the culprit, not wanting to associate with her as they broke out into laughter.

"Stop with the lies, Ms. Moonstream! Please join Mr. Jackson and me in my office." Mr. Weber let out an exasperated sigh.

She walked alongside the two of them with a bounce in her step as the principal escorted his captive toward his office. Alex would have noticed a smile plastered on her face had he glanced in her direction.

"Go inside and call your parents. I'm suspending you for a week for fighting, Mr. Jackson." The rotund man held the phone receiver up for Alex to make his phone call.

"What the Hell? My parents are dead! Why does everyone keep bringing them up today? And what about Killian? He punched me!" He slapped the phone receiver out of the fat man's hand and stomped on the ground.

He didn't oppose the suspension but would appreciate it if people would stop mentioning his parents.

"I saw you hit Mr. Copperland first…" The principal lied directly to the boy's face.

"...and now it's two weeks for swearing at me." He was being unreasonable, likely because of the Copperland name. "You can't just claim your parents are dead to avoid this; I can pull their number from your file."

"They died," he reiterated in a rage!

"Killian knew this; how do you not know this?" The girl that followed them to the office chimed in.

"Call up my dad's friend Jimmy; I'm pretty sure he's the only person in the phonebook without a last name." The frustrated 12-year-old gave up and just sat on a chair in the office. He was done wasting his time trying to explain the situation.

The school attempted to contact his parents multiple times.

When no one answered any of the numbers, they tried to contact the secondary contact in the file. It sounded like an old man who just called himself Jimmy. He confirmed the story regarding Kain and Carol's death and refused to elaborate on the situation.

The large man didn't like it. He didn't feel it was a proper punishment without parents to scold the students when they got home, but he had to release the boy from his office and allow him to leave the school.

Calling the female student into his office, he regained his joy. Another opportunity presented itself to make a student miserable, and he planned to savor it.

She sat politely as she swung her feet back and forth on the padded chair Alex had been seated in, smiling away. After raising his voice and holding the receiver toward her to call her parents, he was yet again disappointed.

Her parents weren't dead, but they chose to allow her to walk home from school rather than be picked up, seemingly uncaring of her suspension.